Module Information

Course Delivery

Delivery Type

Delivery length / details

Seminars / Tutorials

22 Hours. 1 x 2 hour seminars per week

Assessment

Assessment Type

Assessment length / details

Proportion

Semester Assessment

2 x 3,000 word essays (worth 50% each)
Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.

100%

Learning Outcomes

On completing the module students will be able to:

- critically analyse, assess and evaluate the central intellectual debates concerning the politics and society of contemporary Wales;
- critically analyse, assess and evaluate the relationship between the positions held in those debates and the available empirical data, including historical, political and sociological analyses; and,
- analyse and assess the light shed on the the Welsh situation - and the debates about this situation - through consideration broader, comparative contexts.

Brief description

This module provides an overview of the sociological, political and constitutional contexts that underpin life in contemporary Wales. It is a core module for students on the 'Specialist' pathway of the 'Wales: Politics and Society' degree programme.

Aims

This module aims to allow students to develop the ability to analyse, evaluate and discuss:

- the central intellectual debates concerning the politics and society of contemporary Wales;
- the relationship between the positions held in those debates and the available empirical data, including historical, political and sociological analyses; and,
- the light shed on the the Welsh situation - and the debates about this situation - through consideration broader, comparative contexts.

Content

Combining both empirical and conceptual elements, the module aims to critically explore key issues in the politics and society of Wales including: institutional development; the evolution of the party structure; the impact of economic peripheralisation; the complex (dialectical?) relationship between integration and devolution; the relationship between nationality, class and social values (the much-vaunted 'radical tradition'); patterns of national identity in Wales; the location of power in Welsh life; and regional differentation within Wales. Throughout the module reference is made to comparative material in order to provide a broader framework for understanding the Welsh situation.

Transferable skills

Students will have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of transferable skills that will help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate events, examples and ideas. Throughout the module, students should practice and enhance their reading, comprehension and thinking skills, their self-management skills, as well as basic numeracy skills. In seminars students will enhance their analytical skills and will practice listening, explaining and debating skills, as well as team-working skills. The review essays will further develop analytical and communication skills. Essay writing will encourage students to practice their independent research, writing and IT skills, and the examination will test analytical and written communication skills under conditions of time-constraint.